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Tuesday, February 7, 2012

Not just another hat in the ring

Scott Fernandez, a biologist who's been part of the crew battling the Portland water bureau for years over its many questionable expenditures, informs us that he's decided to run for mayor. We're surprised, but not unpleasantly so. Fernandez seems like a bright guy who has put in a lot of time and energy fighting junk science and turning over many rocks to reveal curious behavior by the city's water bureaucrats.

To call his candidacy a longshot would be an understatement. Fernandez reminds us of Jason Renaud, the mental health advocate who ran for mayor four years ago, mostly as a means of publicizing mistreatment of the mentally ill by police and other local bureaucracies. If running for office helped Renaud get out his message about the brutal killing of James Chasse and other outrages against the mentally ill, it was worth it. And we feel much the same way about Fernandez.

And so if you can't bring yourself to vote for any of the "big three" versions of the status quo currently running for mayor, and if Max Brumm is too young for your liking, you might want to think about voting for Fernandez, if for no other reason than to tell the water bureau what you think of its recent performance.

But Fernandez's ideas are bigger than just water. He sees waste in many facets of the city government -- as his website puts it, "where cronyism runs rampant at the expense, both literally and figuratively, of hard-working ratepayers and taxpayers." Amen to that. Can you imagine how refreshing it would be to have a mayor with that perspective? It would be priceless. We wish him the best on the campaign trail.

Comments (30)

I worked on Mayor Bud Clark's run for mayor. Many said Ivancie's election was inevitable. There is hope in Scott's candidacy, and his common sense platform is what Portland needs. Thanks Jack for bringing this to our attention.

It would be nice if Portlanders quit thinking they were somehow exempt from the government-business welfare model so many here complain about happening nationally and elsewhere. Our developers are just the local versions of Raytheon and Exxon, not "green builders" or "visionaries." I'm not sure if he's the one to do it, but someone needs to get after our local cronynomics system.

I intend to be a one-issue voter in the upcoming election - reinstatement of weekly garbage service.

I don't think anything better symbolizes the gulf between a city government that is run for the benefit of its citizens; and a city government run for the benefit of its planning bureaucracy, who will impose ever-more draconian measures on the populace, so they can boast how "sustainable" they are at expensive conferences.

If a candidate is right on weekly garbage pickup, it is almost certain that they are also right on the Oregon Sustainability Center, the trolley to Lake Oswego, the need to keep maintaining city streets, etc., etc. etc.

If a candidate won't explicitly support the reinstatement of weekly garbage service, I assume that they are going to be wrong on everything else, and are simply going to be another pawn for the eco-nut/planner/real estate developer complex.

I can personally testify that Scott is the only honest candidate running for Mayor.

And this water issue is representative of the total disconnect between the public and our reps. So I think he has a much better grasp on what this city needs to do to get back on track than any other person running.

I had decided I wouldn't be voting for any candidate for mayor as I hadn't heard one sensible word out of any of them about ending the spending on junk and restoring basic city services. It's too early to say Scott Fernandez is somebody I could vote for, but he sounds promising.

Jack and I were talking about whether Stenchy would be in favor of or opposed to weekly garbage pick-up. I'm not to date on my understanding of rodent preferences, but I would've thought that more frequent trash collection would encourage more trash dumping and hence more goodies for the little guy. But maybe he prefers that things get a bit rank festering the garbage containers.

I hate to be a cynic, but despite how much I'd like to see it don't see it happening. Too many sensible residents have already fled and been replaced with too many groupthink pod-people who want to make sure Portland stays "on the right track".

A spokesrodent for the activist group RATT (Rodents Aligned on Tastier Trash) has released a statement:

“Our members wholeheartedly support longer periods between garbage pickups. Nothing compares to chicken fat, spoiled broccoli and baby diapers that have had a good two weeks to bake slowly in a solar oven (Green Tech for the win!), er, city approved receptacle. Rushing the cooking process, demanded if garbage is removed too often, reduces the succulence of our members repast and as such is totally unacceptable.”

Interesting. I'd like to learn more about him. And I join the earlier commenter who implored Jack to write more about Fernandez (or any other seemingly pragmatic-minded candidates).

More than that, I think any of us who have blogs or Twitter accounts would do well to promote some more of the common-sense candidates. While I hate to shill for any politician, I am most likely a "Portland lifer" due to family ties, etc, and I have no desire to spend the rest of my life mired in the gamesmanship and pettiness of Adams or others like him. The fight has not been kicked out of me yet.

I have seen Fernandez at his town hall presentations educating the people of this city about their water. Most impressive. This person is smart, and his respect for other people is second to none. How nice that would be for a Mayor to be respectful towards others.

I have spoken with him; he is as concerned about the other issues in our city as well.
He grew up here and finally decided to run as he has been very concerned about the direction our city has taken. He understands financial responsibility. We have wanted a change and now have a choice to have someone who is willing to step up for the public interest.

He served for 8 years on the Portland Utility Review Board, never missed a meeting, he knows about city matters. We just might have a chance to save our wonderful Bull Run Water System with Fernandez as Mayor, and to turn this city into another direction, taking care of basics, and at long last to bring a breath of fresh air into our public chambers, our Portland City Hall.

Scott Fernandez is one who has a heart for our city; he has given serious consideration
to this decision. How appropriate he has come onto the scene at this time, a gift for Valentines Day. Interesting that he grew up in the Rose City neighborhood. Those of us who have worked with him on the Citizens For Portland's Water of course endorse him. Please join the effort of those of us who know Scott Fernandez in his campaign for Fernandez for Mayor.

Hey, I'd vote for him. Even better, I'd like to have about four guys just like him in the next Dallas mayoral election. (Our current unbearable cross is actually on his way to making Sam Adams look good. Every once in a while, you can see the strings move, just so the puppeteers can pretend he's a real live boy.)

I've had the honor of knowing and working with Scott Fernandez for several years. He is smart, honest, and genuinely cares about what's best for Portland residents. I believe he would bring about positive change to a city desperately in need of honest, intelligent leadership. He's won my vote.

I've known Scott for about 7 years, since we served on the Portland Utility Review Board together. He is a smart and dedicated citizen, and I know he will be the best Mayor Portland has had in a long time. There is no doubt that he is a long-shot to win this election, but stranger things happen in this town all the time. Good luck Scott!

As a party animal, I usually take little interest in Portland politics because there's no Republicans. I usually write in Rob Kremer as a protest vote. It would welcome the opportunity to cast a vote for a sensible, fiscally moderate Democrat.

I can attest to Scott's honesty having also worked with him and his knowledge, particularly, about protecting our water system while applying 'real science' is without equal.

Right now the consultants can pass laws that force the public to give them all the business and fees they desire.....and the Water Bureau is helping them do it, along with helping with writing 'said law'. Crypto is the boogeyman they're using. It is far more of a danger in re-circulating play fountains & daycare than in our water (which has had no water related incidents in it's history). Oddly, we don't hear them talking about that or the real incidents related to swimming in lakes. They only want the big projects that give them big fees and create big debts....which make the 'moneylenders' happy. Repairing our system would give jobs to average people.....they don't want that. Many have been laid-off.

Lately, I've voted for many '3rd party' candidates, but I'll be happy to vote for him. I was initially happy about Eileen but she's beginning to sound like everyone else.

It's disappointing though, that even in the candidate forum at People's with the Green Party and Occupy Pdx people, Scott wasn't allowed to ask a question about what's going on with our water system!!!

Road Work

Miles run year to date: 45
At this date last year: 117
Total run in 2016: 155
In 2015: 271
In 2014: 401
In 2013: 257
In 2012: 129
In 2011: 113
In 2010: 125
In 2009: 67
In 2008: 28
In 2007: 113
In 2006: 100
In 2005: 149
In 2004: 204
In 2003: 269